Micromachined wafer strain gauge

ABSTRACT

A micromachined strain gauge comprising a plastically deformable piezoresistive microstructure formed on a surface of a substrate so that deformation of the substrate plastically deforms the microstructure to thereby change the resistance of the microstructure. The stress in the substrate can be determined from the change in the resistance of the microstructure.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to semiconductor wafer processing, andmore particularly to a micromachined wafer strain gauge.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Semiconductor devices, such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) andintegrated circuits, are fabricated on semiconductor wafers by manydifferent processing steps, sometimes as many as several hundred. Thesesteps include deposition, etching, implantation, doping, and a varietyof other processing steps.

The processing steps involved in fabricating semiconductor devices onwafers often result in stress-induced defects in the wafer, such asvoids or cracks. These process-induced stress defects can reducefabrication yield and adversely affect the reliability and performanceof semiconductor devices fabricated on the wafers.

Because of the problems that can be caused by stresses induced insemiconductor wafers by fabrication processes, it highly desirable to beable to directly measure such stresses. These stress measurements can beused, for example, to identify wafers that are likely to provide lowyields of semiconductor devices or which might produce devices prone toearly failure.

Conventional strain gauges are generally unsuitable for directlymeasuring stresses built up in the wafer substrate during waferfabrication. Electrical resistance strain gauges conventionally requirea constant power supply. A constant power supply is incompatible withthe conditions of wafer processing, such as etching in a corrosive wetbath and ion implantation in a high vacuum chamber.

Conventional mechanical and optical strain gauges typically includemacroscopic moving parts that cannot readily be scaled down formicrofabrication on wafers. Even if they can be microfabricated, theirmoving parts are incompatible with the conditions of wafer processing,such as high speed spinning during wafer lapping, grinding andpolishing.

A need therefore exists for an integrated strain gauge that can beexposed to all of the conditions of wafer processing so thatprocess-induced stress in wafers can be directly measured in-line. Thisneed is particularly felt in wafer processing of MEMS products, such asinkjet printer firing units. This is because MEMS wafer processingtypically involves high-stress process steps such as wafer drilling andlaser ablation that are not present in conventional integrated circuitwafer processing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, there is provided a micromachinedstrain gauge. The gauge includes a plastically deformable piezoresistivemicrostructure formed on a surface of a substrate so that deformation ofthe substrate plastically deforms the microstructure to thereby changethe resistance of the microstructure, wherein stress in the substratecan be determined from change in the resistance of the microstructure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1(a) to 1(e) are schematic sections of a substrate showing theformation thereon of a micromachined strain gauge according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a micromachined strain gauge according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of a micromachined strain gauge accordingto an embodiment of the present invention connected to a Wheatstonebridge circuit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart detailing a method of determining stress in asubstrate.

FIG. 5 is a map of the stress distribution over the surface of the wafergenerated by micromachined strain gauges according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1(a) to 1(e) illustrate the sequential steps in producing amicromachined strain gauge according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring initially to FIG. 1(a), a structural layer 102 of plasticallydeformable piezoresistive material is deposited on a substrate 100.Plastic deformation is a deformation of a body caused by an appliedstress which remains after the stress is removed. Piezoresistance is achange in electrical resistance of a body when subjected to stress. Amaterial having both these properties is selected for the structurallayer 102. Examples of suitable piezoresistive material for thestructural layer 102 include ductile metals or metal alloys.

The structural layer 102 is coated by a photoresist layer 104. A mask106 having transparent regions 108 and precisely patterned opaqueregions 110 is illuminated by ultraviolet light 112 to cast a highlydetailed shadow onto the photoresist layer 104. The regions 114 of thephotoresist layer 104 receiving an exposure of ultraviolet light 112 arechemically altered (FIG. 1(b)).

After exposure, the photoresist layer 104 is immersed in a developerthat chemically removes the exposed regions 114 to expose portions ofthe structural layer 102 (FIG. 1(c)). The exposed portions of thestructural layer 102 are then etched away in a wet bath (FIG. 1(d)).Lastly, the remaining photoresist 104 is removed, resulting in amicromachined strain gauge 105 on the substrate 100 (FIG. 1(e)).

FIG. 2 is a more detailed illustration of the strain gauge 105. As canbe seen in FIG. 2, the micromachined strain gauge 105 isphotolithographically patterned by mask 106 in a meander 116. Themeander 116 is designed to provide maximum gauge resistance whilekeeping both the length and width of the micromachined strain gauge 105to a minimum. Connector tabs 118 are provided on the respective ends ofthe meander 116.

The general principles of the micromachined strain gauge 105 will now bediscussed. When force is applied to an object, stress and strain are theresult. Stress is uniform the force per unit area acting on the object,as given by. $\sigma = \frac{F}{A}$

where: σ=stress

-   -   F=force applied    -   A=unit area.

When an object experiences stress, the object will experiencedeformation. Strain is a measurement of the intensity of thisdeformation and can be defined as the change in distance between twopoints belonging to the same object. More specifically, strain is thedeformation per unit length of the object in any dimension resultingfrom stress, as given by: $ɛ = \frac{\Delta\quad L}{L}$

where: ε=strain

-   -   ΔL=change in length    -   L=original length.

According to Hooke's law, within the elastic limit of a material, thestress is proportional to the strain, as given by:$Y = \frac{\sigma}{ɛ}$

where: Y=Young's Modulus

-   -   σ=stress    -   ε=strain.

A piezoresistive material, such as metal or metal alloy, subjected tomechanical strain exhibits a change in electrical resistance. The changein resistance is proportional to the strain, as given by:$\frac{\Delta\quad R}{R} = {{GF}*ɛ}$

where: ΔR=change in resistance

-   -   R=original resistance    -   GF=gauge factor    -   ε=strain.

Thus, variations in the electrical resistance of the piezoresistivematerial can be measured as an indication of strain/stress. As describedabove, the micromachined strain gauge 105 comprises a plasticallydeformable piezoresistive material such as a ductile metal or metalalloy. When the substrate 105 is subjected to mechanical strain, theplastically deformable micromachined strain gauge 105 deforms andremains deformed after the strain is removed. Thus, the micromachinedstrain gauge 105 retains the peak value of the strain even when thestrain on the substrate 100 is released. This is because themicromachined strain gauge 105 comprises a plastically deformablepiezoresistive material that has a pure plastic response against appliedload. The peak value of the strain applied to the substrate 100 ismechanically memorised in the plastic deformation of the micromachinedstrain gauge 105. Because the micromachined strain gauge 105 ispiezoresistive, the peak strain can be retrieved by measuring the changein electrical resistance caused by the plastic deformation.

The micromachined strain gauge 105 does not need any power supply tomeasure the peak strain applied to the substrate 100. The value of thepeak strain is contained in the mechanical memory of the micromachinedstrain gauge 105 in the form of a change of resistance. A small powersupply is required only when data retrieval becomes necessary. Toretrieve the peak strain from the mechanical memory, the micromachinedstrain gauge 105 is connected to a resistance measuring circuit such asa conventional Wheatstone bridge circuit 120, as can be seen in FIG. 3.The Wheatstone bridge circuit 120 connects to the tabs 118 of themicromachined strain gauge 105 and converts the resistance change in themicromachined strain gauge 105 into voltage output, as given by:$e = {\frac{{R_{1}R_{3}} - {R_{2}R_{4}}}{\left( {R_{1} + R_{2}} \right)\left( {R_{3} + R_{4}} \right)}E}$

where: e=voltage output

-   -   E=exciting voltage    -   R₁=resistance of micromachined strain gauge 105    -   R₂˜R₄=resistance of fixed resistors.

Assuming the value R as R=R1=R2=R3=R4, and that the micromachined straingauge 105 resistance varies from R to R+ΔR due to the peak inducedstrain, the output voltage Δe due to the strain is given as follows:${\Delta\quad e} = {\frac{\Delta\quad R}{{4R} + {2\quad\Delta\quad R}}E}$

When ΔR<<R this is approximated to:${\Delta\quad e} = {{\frac{\Delta\quad R}{4R}E} = {\frac{E}{4}{GF}\quad ɛ}}$

where: GF=gauge factor of micromachined strain gauge 105

-   -   ε=peak induced strain.

Thus, the peak induced strain in substrate 100 can be determined bymeasuring the change in output voltage Δe of the Wheatstone bridgecircuit 120.

In an embodiment, a micromachined strain gauge is surface micromachined(as described above) from gold that has been sputter deposited on a dieof a semiconductor wafer, such as a silicon wafer.

Gold is a material that can be utilized in the formation of themicromachined strain gauge because gold is ductile, stable, and has goodstrain characteristics (from around 40 MPa to 400 Mpa) and strainsensitivity (or gauge factor). Further, gold can be bonded on wafer dieby conventional surface micromachining techniques including thin filmdeposition, pattering and etching. Finally, gold is advantageous forthis implementation because gold is already conventionally used in waferprocessing to fabricate semiconductor devices on wafer die.

Referring to FIG. 4, a method of determining stress in a substratecomprises forming a plastically deformable piezoresistive microstructureon a surface of the substrate (Step 402). The original electricalresistance of the plastically deformable piezoresistive microstructureis measured (Step 404) by a resistance measuring circuit such as aconventional Wheatstone bridge circuit. The peak value of subsequentlyinduced strain in the substrate is mechanically memorised in the plasticdeformation of the microstructure (Step 406). The peak strain isretrieved by measuring the change in electrical resistance of themicrostructure caused by the plastic deformation (Step 408).

The micromachined strain gauge in accordance with an embodiment can beused to determine the stress induced in wafers by wafer processing ofintegrated circuits or MEMS. Specifically, a plurality of micromachinedstrain gauges are respectively formed on a corresponding plurality ofdie of a wafer. The resistance in individual micromachined strain gaugesis measured and recorded before the start of conventional waferprocessing. The embedded micromachined strain gauges are then exposed toall the conditions of one or more conventional wafer processing steps.The resistance in individual micromachined strain gauges is thenmeasured again and recorded. The stress induced in individual dies ofthe wafer by wafer processing can then be determined from variations inthe resistance of the corresponding micromachined strain gauges. Thisdie-specific stress information is advantageous for wafer processdesign, production monitoring and wafer failure analysis. Suchdie-specific stress information is particularly advantageous in waferprocessing of MEMS products, such as inkjet printer firing units. Thisis because MEMS wafer processing typically involves high-stress processsteps such as wafer drilling and laser ablation that are not present inconventional integrated circuit wafer processing.

As shown in FIG. 5, the die-specific stress data can be used to generatea wafer map showing the surface distribution of process-induced stressin the wafer. The squares correspond to individual die of the wafer. Thesquares filled with diagonal hatching indicate very high levels ofprocess-induced stress sufficient to crack the die. The squares filledwith vertical hatching indicate die with high levels of process-inducedstress levels. The squares filled with dots indicate die with acceptableprocess-induced stress levels, whereas the remaining empty squaresindicate that no stress measurement was recorded.

It will be appreciated that embodiments of the micromachined straingauge according to the present invention can be exposed to all of theconditions of wafer processing so that process-induced stress in waferdie can be directly measured in-line.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention describedherein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than thosespecifically described It is to be understood that the inventionincludes all such variations and modifications which fall within itsspirit and scope.

1. A micromachined strain gauge comprising a plastically deformablepiezoresistive microstructure formed on a surface of a substrate so thatdeformation of the substrate plastically deforms the microstructure tothereby change the resistance of the microstructure, wherein stress inthe substrate can be determined from change in the resistance of themicrostructure.
 2. The micromachined strain gauge of claim 1, whereinthe microstructure is connectable to a resistance measuring circuit. 3.The micromachined strain gauge of claim 2, wherein the microstructure isformed on the surface of the substrate by surface micromachining.
 4. Themicromachined strain gauge of claim 3, wherein the surfacemicromachining is by at least one of film deposition, photolithographyand etching.
 5. The micromachined strain gauge of claim 4, wherein themicrostucture is formed on the surface of the substrate in a meander. 6.The micromachined strain gauge of claim 5, wherein the microstructurecomprises gold.
 7. The micromachined strain gauge of claim 6, whereinthe substrate comprises a portion of a semiconductor wafer.
 8. Themicromachined strain gauge of claim 7, wherein the portion of thesemiconductor wafer comprises a die of the semiconductor wafer.
 9. Amethod of determining stress in a substrate comprising the steps of:forming a plastically deformable piezoresistive microstructure on asurface of the substrate so that deformation of the substrateplastically deforms the microstructure to thereby change the resistanceof the microstructure; measuring change in the resistance of themicrostructure; determining stress in the substrate from change in theresistance of the microstructure.
 10. A method of determining stressinduced in a wafer by wafer processing, the method comprising the stepsof: micromachining at least one plastically deformable piezoresistivestrain gauge microstructure on at least one die of the wafer so thatdeformation of the die plastically deforms the strain gaugemicrostructure to thereby change the resistance of the strain gaugemicrostructure; measuring the resistance of the strain gaugemicrostructure before wafer processing; measuring the resistance of thestrain gauge microstructure after wafer processing; determining stressinduced in the die by wafer processing from change in the resistance ofthe strain gauge microstructure.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein aplurality of plastically deformable piezoresistive strain gaugemicrostructures are respectively micromachined on a correspondingplurality of die of the wafer.
 12. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising the step of generating a wafer map of the stress induced inindividual die by wafer processing.
 13. The method of claim 12, whereinthe wafer processing comprises processing wafers to fabricatemicroelectromechanical systems (MEMS) thereon.